This Ryts article is all about the police, both national (SAPS) and local (municipal). Your interaction with the police is set by the South African Police Services Act 68 of 1995 and the regulations dated 27 October 2017. Here are a few pointers.
Members – Interacting with the public
[13] Subject to the Constitution and with due regard to the fundamental rights of every person, a member may exercise such powers and shall perform such duties and functions as are by law conferred on or assigned to a police official. A member who is obliged to perform an official duty, shall, with due regard to his or her powers, duties and functions, perform such duty in a manner that is reasonable in the circumstances.
Interacting with the Public
In terms of the regulations published 27 October 2017 [6] An employee shall put the public interest first in the execution of his or her official duties and abide by and strive to be familiar with all legislation and other lawful instructions applicable to his or her conduct and official duties; [7] An employee shall serve the public in an unbiased and impartial manner in order to create confidence in the public service, be polite, helpful and reasonably accessible in his or her dealings with the public;
Further the SAPS Code of Conduct (abridged by the author) notes that Police Officials of the South African Police Service commit to the creation of a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa by –
- participating in endeavours to address the root causes of crime in the community;
- preventing action which may threaten the safety or security of any community; and
- investigating criminal conduct which has endangered the safety or security of the community and bringing the perpetrators thereof to justice.
In realization of the aforesaid commitment, they shall at all times –
- be guided by the needs of the community;
- cooperate with the community, government at every level and all other related role-players.
In order to achieve a safe and secure environment for all the people of South Africa
they undertake to –
- with integrity, render a responsible and effective service of high quality which is accessible to every person and continuously strive towards improving this service;
- utilize all the available resources responsibly, efficiently and cost-effectively to maximize their use;
- act impartially, courteously, honestly, respectfully, transparently and in an accountable manner;
Roadblocks
[8)] The National or Provincial Commissioner may … in writing authorise a member under his or her command; to set up a roadblock or roadblocks on any public road in a particular area or to set up a checkpoint or checkpoints at any public place in a particular area. The written authorisation shall specify the date, approximate duration, place and object of the proposed action.
Any driver of a vehicle who approaches a roadblock or any person who approaches a checkpoint and who refuses or fails to stop in accordance with an order to stop shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding six months.
Any member may, without warrant in the event of a roadblock or checkpoint !hat is set up, search any person or vehicle stopped at such roadblock or checkpoint and any receptacle or object of whatever nature in !he possession of such person or in, on or attached to such vehicle provided that a member executing a search under this subparagraph shall, upon demand of any person whose rights are or have been affected by the search or seizure, inform him or her of !he reason for !he setting up of !he roadblock.
Establishment of community police forums
[19] A Provincial Commissioner shall be responsible for establishing community police forums at police stations in the province which shall ….. be broadly representative of the local community. [22] A provincial or area community police board or a community police forum or subforum shall perform the functions it deems necessary and appropriate to achieve the objects contemplated in section 18.. [S18] notes that the objects of these CPF’s are;
- establishing and maintaining a partnership between the community and the Service;
- promoting communication between the Service and the community;
- promoting co-operation between the Service and the community in fulfilling the needs of the community regarding policing;
- promoting joint problem identification and problem-solving by the Service and the community. ·
Local Police
Local police also derive their authority from the SAPS Act. However, the South African Police Service Amendment Act 83 of 1998 lays down the parameters for their establishment.
[64.] Any local government may, subject to ·the Constitution and this ·Act, establish a municipal police service or a metropolitan police service The establishment of a municipal or metropolitan police service shall not derogate from the functions of the Service or the powers, duties or functions of a member in terms of any law. Where a municipal or metropolitan police· service has been established, such service shall be represented by at least one of its members designated by such service for that purpose on every community police forum or sub-forum established in terms of section 19 in its area of jurisdiction.
[64F] of the amendment notes that subject to the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 and with due regard to the fundamental rights of every person, a member of a municipal police service may exercise such powers and shall perform such duties as are by law conferred upon or assigned to a member of a municipal police service. Every member of a municipal police service is a peace officer and may exercise the powers conferred upon a peace officer by law within the area of jurisdiction of the municipality in question.
(we will do a further article on municipal policing at a later date).
Photographing the Police
Whilst Ryts cannot find any regulations on this matter (regular readers will be aware that we always endevour to quote specific legislation in any article) it is generally held that there is nothing illegal about taking photographs or making any video recording of the police in action as long as this incident is in a public place and not a police station.
The Cape Town Safety and Security Executive Director Richard Bosman, in a memo sent to metro police officers dated April 24 2018, said the public were entirely within their rights to take pictures or capture video of officers performing their duties, provided the officers were not impeded from carrying out their jobs in the process.
“During the past few months, we’ve had a number of incidents where members of our uniformed staff have been involved in incidents while on duty and had their pictures taken or had cellphone movie clips recorded of their activities,” Bosman wrote in the memo.
“In some instances, staff indicated to the members of the public that taking pictures or recording their activities while on duty is illegal and must cease.
“Staff have even gone so far as to request that the pictures and/or movie clips be deleted by the relevant persons who took them. Some have gone even further by taking their phones from their owners and deleting the photos and or video clips of taken of them.
“As such, the following must be noted:
* It is not illegal for staff members to be photographed by members of the public while on duty performing their functions.
* It is not illegal for staff members to have video recordings made by members of the public while on duty performing their functions.
* Staff members must desist from making these comments to members of the public engaged in these activities as their conduct is not unlawful or illegal,” Bosman noted.
Indeed, the author of this article has heard first hand at a CPF meeting our local station commander echoing the same sentiments. One caveat. You may not interfere with the police performing their duty. So if you do record the police, you may wish to stand well back.
